Tarun Sethi
Criminal defense lawyer
I started this office to give people charged with a crime one lawyer who answers the phone, reads every page and tells them the truth about their case.
I grew up in the Northeast Heights and came back after law school to do this work. My clients are teenagers and their parents, people facing federal agents for the first time, and people whose jobs hang on a theft charge.
I work alone on purpose. When you call, you reach me; when your case is in court, I'm the one standing next to you. Outside the office I coach a youth soccer team on weekends, which is part of why Saturday hours matter to me.
Credentials
Admissions, courts and schooling
Bar admissions
State Bar of New Mexico
Admitted 2013
Courts
U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
Admitted 2014
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Admitted 2017
Second Judicial District Court, including children's court
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court
Education
J.D., University of New Mexico School of Law
2013
B.A. in History, University of Arizona
2009
Languages
English
Hindi
Punjabi
Spanish
Conversational
Memberships
New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
Albuquerque Bar Association
Why one lawyer, and why these cases
Most people I meet have never been inside a courtroom. They don't need a speech; they need to know what happens on Tuesday, who will be there and what they should wear.
I took juvenile cases first, because the stakes for a fifteen-year-old are so much larger than the charge. Federal cases followed, and theft cases fill the space between, because they're the charges that cost people jobs.
I don't take every case. When yours belongs with someone else, I'll say so on the first call and tell you who I'd call instead.
Talk it through with me
The first meeting is free, at the office or by phone, on a weekday or a Saturday morning.